the Flying Aces Club

Coming out of the FAC Board Meeting last night, the Board voted to increase subscription rates immediately.  Here is a high-level explanation of “why”:

1) rates have been the same for several years at $25/$35/$50

2) most memberships are being paid by PayPal – which takes a little over $1 out of the $25 in fees per payment

3) choosing to mail the newsletter at First Class rates instead of bulk rates

4) the newsletter is now costing just under $27 per person

Given that information, it is easy to see that we are losing almost $3 per subscriber and there are about 850 subscribers.  We cannot suffer such losses.

So, we have raised the rates by $10 per subscription to cover immediate and future costs for some time.

Note:  CinC Dave Mitchell may have an explanation forthcoming, but we were instructed to implement this immediately and we felt we needed to provide the membership with something of an explanation.  We are also looking at other potential cost-saving measures.  Please direct your comments or concerns to the FAC Board and/or CinC.

US:  $35 per year
Canada:  $45 per year
Overseas:  $60 per year

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

We have dates, so set your calendars!  The 2024 FAC Nats will be 17-20 JULY at the site in Geneseo, NY.

We don’t have a schedule yet, but we have dates!

(edit: corrected end date to the 20th)

See you there!

After a long and complicated summer, the Kanone and Sierra Hotel Lists have been updated!

Happy Halloween!

–george

As Keeper of Kanones, I see the results of all reported contests.  I keep track of such in a database; well, the winner and winning model.  I would like to share the results (top three) of the recent contest at Wawayanda.  There were 8 flyers recorded in Jimmie Allen, and looking at the photos on Facebook, there was a preponderance of Jimmie Allen Specials, the smallest and rarely successful eligible model.  But that is not the Exciting news regarding this Contest and Event.

The Skokie (B.A. Cabin) was SHUT OUT of placing in this contest!  What a rarity!  And, yes, at least one was flying.  To give you an idea of the rarity of this, take a look at the database record (since 2014) for Jimmie Allen Contests:

“Everyone” builds and flies a Skokie – and they win with them.  I think  there are two reasons for this:  1) it is a good flyer, and 2) a kit is available (Easy Built Models).  Personally, I like the Sky Raider – it is similar to the Skokie, but slightly larger (and you can see, it wins, too).

But here are the top three finishers (as reported by Tom Hallman) at Wawayanda:

Granted, the flight times are nothing exceptional, but that matters not – a contest was held and these models won.  Here are photos of the winners, taken by Karin Escalante and grabbed from Facebook.

I believe this is Mike Escalante’s battle-worn Blue Flash

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Vance Gilbert and his “transportized” Jimmie Allen Special. Note the spoked wheels!

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Matt King and his rarely-modeled Yellow Jacket – with yellow jacket insect markings

IMPRESSIVE!

Don DeLoach sends this from Muncie.  Clete Schenkel repairing his venerable Rearwin Speedster.  Rumor has it that he earned Kanone #16 this weekend.  I guess this is how it’s done!

CONTEST REMINDER! The FAC Outdoor Champs and Ted Dock Contests will be in Muncie on 21/22 & 23/24 September. Pre-register today (especially for the Outdoor Champs so we know how many T-shirts and Glider kits we need).

GOLF CARTS WILL BE AVAILABLE!!!!!

Here are the flyers (also posted on the FAC Calendar):

http://www.flyingacesclub.com/ContestFl…/2023_9_Champs.pdf

http://www.flyingacesclub.com/ContestF…/2023_9_TedDock.pdf

Here’s a photo of three intrepid OT Stick flyers flying their new “Miss Production” model in tribute to the late Dan Driscoll.  This happened at the Tuckahoe Squadron meet this past weekend.  They flew on 15% rubber and 9″ props with the models weighing in at about 40-45 grams.  Dave reports he had a 169-second flight (2:49 minutes)!  I am sure they will have them all ready for the Dan Driscoll Memorial event in Raeford, NC next month (check the FAC Calendar).  I am sure there will be other Miss Productions in the air, too!

The new Rule Book is out!  Grab your copy HERE, save it, print it, and familiarize yourself with the (very minor) changes.  In short, the new areas cover:

1) exotic materials in Phantom Flash (see page 13)

2) Jet Cat scale appearance (see page 14)

3) honing down what “combat” aircraft are eligible (see page 17)

That’s it!